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Essentially Fresh, an all-natural car air freshener start-up from Plainfield South High School, bested five other teams and won the District 202 inaugural Entrepreneurial Student Pitch Night on May 6.
Pitch Night was the culmination of the year-long INCubatoredu program at PSHS, Plainfield High School-Central Campus, Plainfield North High School, and Plainfield East High School.
Two PNHS teams - Opal Fragrances, an essential oils fragrance company, and Tackl’ It, a compact wearable tackle box company – placed second and third, respectively.
The other teams who pitched were:
Chill Seal, PEHS, an ice cream container lid
Terra, PHSCC, a natural T-shirt line
Expiri, PNHS, an app to track food expiration dates
Essentially Fresh members won scholarships to use for their education or to invest in their business.
The business classes began in August 2024 and empowered student teams to create, market, and pitch a product or service to a panel of business and community leaders.
PSHS seniors Nick Gawlik, Kyle Acs, Brilan Townsend, and Elaina Poston make up team Essentially Fresh. Breanna Roti is the teacher, and Christina Graf is their business mentor.
The team initially wanted to create a windshield cover to keep off snow, but that market was too crowded.
They pivoted to a natural car air freshener because they all had a connection to the product, said Poston.
“We all had cars in common, and air fresheners are popular and appeal to men and women,” she said.
Roti said she created each team based on student skill surveys so each team would have someone who was strong in finance, communication, or marketing.
“I am proud of all my teams, they all grew in a lot of ways,” she said.
Roti is proud of Essentially Fresh for its growth since August, she said.
“I didn’t have to motivate or push them, they held themselves accountable,” Roti said.
Essentially Fresh team members aren’t sure where their business will go after they graduate on May 17.
A few pitch night judges and some community members talked to the team after its victory to offer advice or ask about investing.
District 202 partnered with the Plainfield Shorewood Area Chamber of Commerce to find local business volunteers to mentor each team of students.
Each high school team pitched their idea and one – two from PNHS because they had two class sections – group from each high school competed to present their idea at Pitch Night.
Community members voted in a sixth team on Pitch Night. The 21 high school teams that didn’t make formal pitch night were on hand to show off their products for the wild card bid.
Opal Fragrances won the wild card bid.
And what advice would the winning team members give to future students?
“Be passionate about the product that you are creating,” said Gawlik.
Acs said students must work hard and not give up.
“This class isn’t easy, and you have to try. It’s not a free credit, and it’s worth it in the end,” he said.
It was all about being authentic, said Poston.
“You might be tempted to put on a professional front in a business class but being myself helped.”
Brilan said it’s important to focus on making connections with the mentors and others who came into the classroom to help.
“You never know when you will cross paths in the future,” he said.
District 202 is adding more sections of the INCubatoredu program in the fall.
